How to Do a Process Chart Type of Question in IELTS Writing Task 1?

December 31, 2016Vaibhavi Karad

In the IELTS writing task 1, you may get a process chart question. A process diagram is the one where you may find different types of questions. You may get a step by step instruction about how a process is followed. The process can be about manufacturing of a product in the factory or a biological process etc. You may find some texts written along with the diagram for its explanation. Let us see how to do a process chart type of question in IELTS writing task 1.Step 1: Read Question Properly and Write Introduction
When in all the IELTS writing task 1 questions, the first step is to read the question thoroughly, a process chart question is not an exception. Here also, you need to read question well so that you can paraphrase it to write your introduction. Read the heading of the process chart also and give a slight stare at all the images of the chart to get an overview of what the process is about. Now that you have read the question, you can write introduction where you can use synonyms and rearrange some words. By looking at the diagram, you can include some information in order to write introduction effectively. For example,
Question Statement:The diagram shows process of producing chocolate in the factory.
Introduction:The given process chart illustrates the process, by which chocolate is produced in the factory, in ten steps from growing of trees to producing liquid chocolate.
In the above introduction, the highlighted text has been taken from the first step and the last test of the process diagram.Step 2: Write Two Body Paragraphs
In order to explain the process diagram well, you should structure your IELTS writing task 1 in two body paragraphs which can be of equal length. If there are 10 steps in total, you can describe about first five steps in the first body paragraph while the next five steps can be described in the second body paragraph or else you may divide the way you want to structure the paragraphs well. It is always better to explain using passive voice, it looks better. For example,
Active Voice:Crush the leaves and put them in a container. Boil them for about an hour in water and then add honey in it.
Passive Voice:The leaves are first crushed and put in a container where they are boiled in water for about an hour. Afterwards, honey is added in the boiled mixture.Step 3: Write Main Conclusion
Summarised information should be there in the IELTS writing task 1 and hence, you must write it in the process chart question as well, either after writing the introduction or at the end of your writing task. It should be the main outcome of the process which you can draw out after carefully considering its overview. For example,
“To conclude with, different process are used between stage 2 and stage 4 to form by products. However, stage 1 and stage 5 are the common steps involved in the manufacturing process.”